After raking the west coast of the Florida Peninsula with high winds, torrential rain and storm surge, Tropical Storm Hermine intensified to a hurricane as she came ashore just east of St. Marks. Flooding was reported from Sarasota northward and the storm surge reached record levels (6 feet) at Cedar Key.
Moving northeastward, Hermine lost strength over land but dropped flooding rains across northern Florida and southern Georgia; the storm's high winds brought down a large number of trees and cut power to over 200,000 homes in Florida alone. Centered over Savannah, Georgia, early this afternoon, Hermine is expected to move up the Southeast Coast over the next few days, unleashing intense rain and damaging winds; strong rip currents and severe beach erosion are anticipated.
Unfortunately, a "blocking high" over the western Atlantic will keep Hermine near the coast and slow her progress. This will augment the storm's effects in coastal regions of the Carolinas and Virginia and potentially allow the storm to intensify (perhaps to a hurricane again) off Delaware and New Jersey. Should this occur, New York City and coastal New England may also experience the wrath of Hermine.
